ST. CATHARINES–The Saskatchewan Huskies entered the Badgers den seemingly with a point to prove, defeating the Brock home team convincingly, 97-57.

For the Huskies, star guard Jamelle Barrett, the #1-ranked player in the country was absent due to injury and did not make the trip. In addition, CIS all-star big man Michael Lieffers was not in attendance as he is currently participating with the national team at the PAN AM games.

“Jamelle brings a whole different element to our game, we’re probably not as strong in transition without him, and Michael Lieffers does a great job on the glass for us,” Huskies Head Coach, Barry Rawlyk tells NPH.

Despite missing their “big dogs” the Huskies are still well-equipped to battle with most teams in the CIS. Nolan Brudehl led the way with a game-high 23 points and seven boards, while several others made some strong contributions.

Expect Lomuro to shoot up the NPH national rankings, which will be released in November. Rawlyk had nothing but praise for the 6’3 explosive guard.

“There’s two things there…one is the obvious one that everyone sees, which is his athleticism. He’s a great athlete and as a result hes a very strong defender. On the offensive end he’s dangerous,” explained Rawlyk.

“The element that I dont think a lot of people see is his experience and his leadership as a fifth-year guy,” he continued.

For the Brock Badgers, it was a game to forget. The roster is certainly stacked with talent including three additions that hold NCAA experience: Jameson Tipping (Western Kentucky), Tshing Kasamba (Chicago State), and Theo Davis (Gonzaga).

However, the team still seems to be adjusting to each other and still have not built enough comfortablility to compete with a well-oiled machine, in the Saskatchewan Huskies.

In the end, it was the major desparity in shooting that proved to be the difference as the Badgers shot a poor 31% from the field against a scorching 55% for the Huskies.

The CanWest representatives have recently tasted the national championsips, taking the CIS crown in the 2009-2010 season, yet coach Rawlyk understands the various factors that must fall into place. Therefore, he doesn’t put pressure on the team.

“None at all, we’ve been there and we’ve won a championship a few years ago and a lot of has to go the right way; all it takes is a lttle bump in the road to take you off the track.”

Based off this performance, the dogs looked a notch above impressive, as they fluidly moved the ball, communicated, and executed with perfection, getting the shot that they wanted on every possession.

“Our thing is this, we want to try to develop as individuals and try to develop as a team week in, week out and that’s what has kind of been our focus since the beginning.”

Saskatchewan will move on to play the AUS contingent Acadia Axeman, while Brock will face Laurentian.